MRC FILM LAUNCHES LANDLINE PICTURES WITH INDUSTRY VETERAN AMY BAER

New Label To Focus on Feature Films For and About “Over 50” Audience

Inaugural Slate Includes Projects with Bill Holderman, David Frankel, and Jon Turteltaub

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – April 5, 2021 – MRC Film has unveiled Landline Pictures, a new label led by industry veteran Amy Baer. Landline will focus on uplifting and entertaining stories that are about and targeting the over 50 demographic, yet commercial and conceptual enough to cross over to a broader audience. 

Landline Pictures, which operates under MRC Film, has an independent development budget to initiate and shepherd projects at various stages of development and production. The label has distribution flexibility and the ability to work in collaboration with other producers. Baer will oversee the creative and strategic agenda for the venture, as well as serve in a producer capacity on all Landline projects.  She will report to MRC Film Co-Presidents Brye Adler and Jonathan Golfman.  

Landline’s goal is to generate multiple films per year, for both the theatrical and streaming distribution market.  Its inaugural slate includes:

• “Jerry and Marge Go Large,” a comedy inspired by the true story of a retired Michigan couple who saved their dying town by playing the Massachusetts lottery. Written by Brad Copeland (“Wild Hogs,” “Arrested Development”), David Frankel (“Marley and Me”) is attached to direct. Gil Netter will produce with Levantine Films’ Tory Metzger and Renee Witt.
• “Scenic Route,” being written by Eyal Podell & Jonathan E. Stewart, is a romantic comedy about a couple that has been married 50 years, and recreate their cross-country RV honeymoon trip in an effort to rekindle their marriage. Bill Holderman (“Book Club”) will direct the comedy.  Safehouse’s Tory Tunnell & Joby Harold will produce alongside Holderman and Erin Simms. 
• “The Best Is Yet To Come,” a comedy based on the French film “Le Meilleur Reste à Venir”about 2 lifelong friends who must make up for lost time after a huge misunderstanding comes between them.  Jon Turteltaub (“Last Vegas”) will direct from a screenplay by Allan Loeb (“Only Living Boy in New York”). Dimitri Rassam, who produced the French film, will also produce via his Chapter 2 banner.  

“Amy is a total pro’s pro and we are proud to be partnered with her on this venture.  There is a huge opportunity to make humorous and thoughtful movies for this underserved audience,” said Adler and Golfman.  

“Every year there are movies for an older demographic that ‘surprisingly over-perform.’ The reality is that they’ve always been there and are hungry for entertaining, universal and inclusive stories for - and about - their lives,” Baer said.  “I have so much respect for Brye and Jonathan’s commitment to making movies for this demographic; and I am honored and excited to be building this label for MRC Film.”

In addition to revealing the label and slate, Baer announced that Chris Ceccotti has moved with her from Gidden Media to Landline Pictures and will serve as Head of Content.

Baer has most recently been running Gidden Media since 2012, where she established one of the industry’s only female-led, independently financed content incubation companies. As a producer, Baer has been behind projects including “Last Vegas,” the hit film starring Michael Douglas, Robert DeNiro, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline; the romantic drama “Mary Shelley” starring Elle Fanning; and inspirational true story “Brian Banks,” which won the Audience Award at the 2018 Los Angeles Film Festival. As President and CEO of CBS Films and a key executive at Sony Pictures, Baer oversaw films including “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” “Something’s Gotta Give,” “Moneyball,” and “The Pursuit of Happyness,” among others.  Baer has served as Board President of Women in Film since 2018.

MRC Film has long been a champion of singular filmmakers with properties including Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out,” Edgar Wright’s “Baby Driver,” and Seth McFarlane’s “Ted” among others; and investments in companies including Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman’s T-Street and A-Major Media, led by Mary Lee.  MRC Film recently announced a label focused on romance led by Elizabeth Cantillon and a label focused on female-driven comedies led by producer Becky Sloviter.

About MRC Film
MRC Film is a leading independent studio, which sources, finances, develops, and produces films in partnership with the industry’s foremost creative artists. To date, the studio’s films have grossed more than $5.1 billion in worldwide box office and its projects have been nominated for 12 Academy Awards®, 11 Golden Globe® Awards, and 2 GRAMMY Awards®. The studio’s films include the comedy “The Lovebirds,” directed by Michael Showalter, starring Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae, currently streaming globally on Netflix; and the recent Oscar® and Golden Globe nominated “Knives Out,” written and directed by Rian Johnson and produced by Ram Bergman and Rian Johnson, starring Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Lakeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell and Christopher Plummer. Past titles include “Baby Driver,” “Ted,” “The Adjustment Bureau,” “Elysium,” and “Babel” among others. MRC Film has selectively co-financed major studio films including the upcoming “The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run,” and “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway”, and past films including “Furious 7,” “22 Jump Street,” ”Think Like a Man Too,” “Peter Rabbit,” “Hotel Transylvania 2” and “Hotel Transylvania 3.” For more information, visit www.mrcentertainment.com.